The head of San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department is stepping down from his job, one month after an employee filed a harassment complaint against him.

Yomi Agunbiade has been general manager of the department since 2004 when he was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The mayor asked that Agunbiade stay in the job while a committee searches for his replacement.

Many community leaders have criticized Agunbiade for his top-down management style, but the issue came to a head last month following the reassignment of Rose Dennis, the department's spokeswoman.

Dennis was reportedly reassigned after she filed a complaint with the city's Human Resources Department against Agunbiade, accusing him of religious and sexual harassment. She said Agunbiade sent several notes to Dennis's office and home last year and in 2006, criticizing her wardrobe and makeup, telling her something was wrong with her upbringing and telling her to "find Jesus."

Dennis reportedly waited until this summer to file to complaint because she didn't want to hurt the department's chances of passing a $185 million parks bond earlier this year. The measure succeeded.

After the Recreation and Parks Commission scheduled a performance review of Agunbiade last month, the department and Newsom's office was flooded with dozens of letters from community leaders and parks advocates asking for his firing. Many people complained that Agunbiade has been unwilling to listen to or work with community members on projects in their neighborhood parks, and others praised Dennis for her service and openness.

Agunbiade started his career with the city as an engineer in the Department of Public Works. In 2003, he was asked to manage a $400 million capital improvement program for the Recreation and Park Department.

"I think overall it's a question of diminishing skill sets that really concerned folks," said Isabel Wade, executive director of the Neighborhood Parks Council. "His engineer skills that were exhibited at the beginning were helpful to the reorganization of the department but that's not the same as communication skills. Fundamentally it's a community relations job. He couldn't maintain good relationships with his own staff, let alone the community."